


Yours

by SouthDrarry



Category: South Park
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, M/M, Secret Admirer, Secret Santa, bunny - Freeform, butters parents are jerks, canon typical language and content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27911920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SouthDrarry/pseuds/SouthDrarry
Summary: Butters encapsulates the spirit of Christmas when he becomes South Park’s secret Santa.However, his actions do not go unnoticed by someone and he starts receiving his own secret gifts from an admirer.A.K.A a fluffy bunny Christmas fic
Relationships: Kenny McCormick/Leopold "Butters" Stotch
Comments: 9
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [remme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/remme/gifts).



> This work is still in progress, the goal is to finish in time for Christmas! 
> 
> This fic is dedicated to remme, whose comments have made my day and inspired me to carry on writing this fics. 
> 
> P.S I hope you all like it.. it’s going to be fluffy!

“Oh Stephen, did you sort out your work’s Secret Santa?” Butters heard his mom call out, as he had began sorting out the kitchen cupboard alphabetically again, while she fixed dinner. He wasn’t allowed to eat till it was done, so he worked quickly but carefully.

“Yes Linda. It’s all been arranged.” Came his dad sharp tone from behind his newspaper as he sat at the large dining table with an impassive air. Butters strived not to make eye contact with the man, lest he attracted his attention and had to rearrange the jars for the fifth time that day.

“Oh goody, I do love buying secret Santa gifts. I wish I worked at the office still so I could do one.” This perked Butters’ interest. His mom rarely mentioned about the time she actually had a job, before she’d met his dad, as she knew it upset him. So this secret Santa thing must be a big deal. But Butters had never heard of one.

“Well, you can buy mine for me. I’m sure you know what to buy Janice anyway. I don’t exactly know what you women folk like.” The man shrugged dismissively, ignoring his wife’s sound of happiness at the suggestion and he turned his attention back to the sports section.

It was only after he’d finally finished the task to his dad’s approval that Butters plucked up the courage to ask his parents what exactly a secret Santa was, as he cleared their plates from the table.

“Well Butters, often work places have too many people to bu an individual gift, so they set up a Secret Santa where you are picked a person at random and have to buy them something anonymously.” His mom explained patiently as she took a swig from the coffee she had made herself.

“Oh boy, that sure sounds fun!” Butters proclaimed, thinking how neat it would be to do that at school.

“Secret Santa isn’t about fun Butters. It is all about the spirit of giving when you get no credit.” Butters’ dad warned sternly and the smile that had occupied Butters’ face dropped.

“Yes sir.” He agreed instantly, hoping to placate him.

“Good Butters. Now go to your room and make sure it’s spotless. I don’t want to hear a peep out of you for the rest of the night.”

“Yes sir.” Butters repeated the phrase he often found himself saying. He was pleased to have been given the opportunity to escape to his room and he wasn’t about to waste it.


	2. Chapter 2

The idea of selfless giving stayed in Butters’ mind long after his dad had dismissed him to his room. He wanted to make people happy, and maybe being the town’s secret Santa was the way? He’d had enough of causing chaos as the professor, that outlet had only caused more pain and hadn’t actually improved his life. Maybe improving the town’s lives would eventually reflect back to his.

But who to start with? Butters didn’t exactly have a lot of money, his allowance was often stopped for minor infractions, so he didn’t have a lot in the way of savings. So he’d have to make gifts. They were more thoughtful anyway, Butters reasoned. Now all he needed was his craft supplies and operation Secret Santa was ready for implementation!

****************************

The alarm announcing he had to be getting up for school rang, and Kenny groaned. Last night had been bad. Thankfully he’d not died, but that just meant he had to deal with the bruises he’d incurred fighting crime on the streets of South Park. Yes, Kenny was still Mysterion. Although, he’d finally stopped wearing his underpants on the outside of his leggings, but everything was mostly the same. Kick the bad guys’ asses and try not to die was the aim of the game. It was a lot less fun now Butters had stopped playing around as Professor Chaos. A lot more serious and a lot more chance of death. But Kenny didn’t mind, he did what had to be done.

“Kenny! Get your ass outta bed!” His not so little sister Karen yelled suddenly, sounding more and more like their mom every day. Kenny sighed, gone were the days when she would play with her dolls and cling to him like he was her saviour.

“I’m coming Karen, don’t worry.” Kenny refused to be like their dad, and would never snap at his sister in anger. Even if she could be a little brat at times. The blonde hoped it was just puberty.

“Good, ‘cause I don’t want to be late again. Mr Hall chewed me out for an hour last time.” Karen said as she checked her make up in the mirror. In the past year she seemed to become more and more preoccupied with her appearance and Kenny dreaded the day she brought a _boyfriend_ home.

“Do you need me to speak to him?” Kenny asked gruffly, he knew Mr Hall could be a right asshole at times. He didn’t care if he was a teacher, no power hungry jerk could bully his little sister and get away with it.

“Kenny. I love ya and all… but you gotta let me fight my own battles. I’m not a little kid anymore.” Karen was, for once, serious and it softened something inside of him. Perhaps he hadn’t lost that sweet girl forever.

“Karen, I’m always going to want to protect you. You’re my baby little sister, even if you do wear skirts as short as that..” Kenny indicated to the mini-mini skirt that was more a belt than anything else.

“You don’t think it’s too short though? Like slutty and trying too hard?” Karen was suddenly concerned as she inspected her bare legs with scepticism.

“Um.. Karen. You shouldn’t even know the word _slutty_.” Kenny was scandalised at the word coming from the fourteen year old.

Karen looked at him in disbelief. “Kenny I’m pretty sure you were having sex at my age.”

“Yes.. well…” The blonde had no argument to that, as unfortunately it was true. “You definitely best not be having sex Karen!”

“Oh my god. Can you just not? Like it’s totally sexist of you to be against me having sex because I’m a girl..”

“I just don’t want my little sister to be doing things like that. It’s not because you’re a girl.” Kenny said through gritted teeth, getting more and more frustrated.

“Whatever.” Karen simply replied, she seemed done with this conversation, and Kenny really didn’t want to argue before he’d even had chance to have breakfast, so he let it go. But he would be keeping an eye on his sister and any fuck boys she spoke to would be getting a visit from Mysterion.

He sighed. Today was shaping up to be a great day.


	3. Chapter 3

Butters was tired. Probably even more so than when he used to dress up as Professor Chaos and cause mayhem dead into the night. Not only had he had to stay up late to avoid detection from his parents, but then he had to stay up frustratingly long making the darn thing. And that had been tricky. But in the end it was worth it, the recipient more than deserved it.

He had researched online all sorts of craft projects that he could fashion into a gift for people; crochet scarves, pen holders, knitted teddy bears were some of the suggested ideas. But then he saw the suggestion of candles. And it was perfect for the person he had in mind.

His mom had bought a candle maker some years back when she had wanted to make her own to sell at a church gathering. She’d only used it once, but Butters didn’t want to ask her if he could borrow it. He didn’t want to risk his parents finding out what he was doing, and he certainly didn’t want them stopping him.

So he’d waited. Later and later into the night, the fear of being grounded keeping him from sneaking about too soon, he had to be sure they were both asleep. They had faked him out before as a test.

Mercifully, his parents didn’t stir as he crept to the linen cupboard at the bottom of the stairs and carried the heavy box from where it had been stored, seemingly forgotten, until now. He’d even found some lavender oil to put in, and had thought that was sure to be perfect. The boy who would receive this candle could do with sleep, more often than not he turned up to school with dark circles under his eyes.

************************

Kenny yawned as he trudged into school with Cartman who harped on relentlessly about the ‘sweet game his mom had bought him’ for not getting a detention in a while and that Kenny ‘probably couldn’t afford since he was so poor.’

In all honesty, the blonde couldn’t care less about the game the fatass was bragging about. He’d long since come to terms with not being able to afford nice things that others took for granted. Yes, he was poor. Yes, it sucked. But Kenny was adamant he’d make enough money some day and move far away from the dismal town. The one thing, other than Karen, that was holding him back was his friends. Namely, Butters.

Cartman seemed to think that Kenny was his best friend. In the blonde’s mind, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Cartman was vindictive, greedy and pretty much exhibited all that was wrong with humanity. No, Kenny much preferred hanging out with Butters, or as he liked to call him, Leo or his buttercup.

Sure other students thought he was weird and/or annoying, but then loads of people thought Kenny himself was white trash scum that would never amount to anything. They didn’t see the pure goodness that was Butters, and his unyielding desire to make the world a better place. It kind of fit what Kenny did as Mysterion, albeit with less punches and kicks.

“Earth to Kenny. Can. You. Hear. Me?” Cartman obnoxiously waved his fat fingers in front of his face, startling the boy from his deep contemplation.

“What do you want?” Kenny sighed, he was too tired to be annoyed.

“Don’t be like that Kenny, just cause I interrupted your wet daydream about your favourite butt boy..” Cartman smirked with malicious intent. He loved needling the parka clad boy, though to be honest he enjoyed winding up just about anyone.

“Shut the fuck up Cartman.” Cartman had started getting on his nerves lately, taunting him about his deep friendship with Butters. Like he would even consider dating Kenny! As far as Kenny was aware, Butters was straight and as pure as untouched snow. He wasn’t about to taint the boy with his advances, everyone knew Kenny had been around the block or two.

“Ooh did I touch a nerve?” Cartman laughed. “Don’t look now but your faggy friend is heading this way.”

Kenny looked up sharply in the direction the large boy had indicated towards, causing Cartman to chortle at his far too obvious eagerness. He didn’t mind though, as for once the fatass was telling the truth. Butters, in all his sunny glory, was heading over towards him. 

“Hey fellas! Hey Kenny!” Butters smiled exuberantly at them both as he bounced up to their vicinity. Cartman didn’t let it go unnoticed that his blonde friend received his own personal hello and shot Kenny a smug look as though to say _see I was right you two gay wads._ Kenny merely rolled his eyes at the fatass and let a warm smile grace his lips.

“Hey buttercup, how’s it going?” The look Kenny sent him made a curious feeling spring up inside Butters. It was disconcerting to say the least. Nervous laughter threatened to burst from him and Butters had to clamp it down. It was so strange. Butters normally only got nervous around strangers, never Kenny.

Realising he had probably been staring at his friend for far too long to be acceptable, Butters scrambled to get out a stuttering reply. “Um.. it’s going quite well thank you. How are you Ken?”

Kenny raised his eyebrow in amusement, loving the way the other teen boy blushed so easily. “I’m good. You alright though, you seem a bit distracted?”

“I’m just tired.” Butters yawned convincingly. It was the truth, though there was perhaps another reason he was a little spaced out. Not that he’d admit it.

“Alright Leo.. well make sure you’re taking care of yourself.” Kenny gave a wink that he knew had made the freshmen girls swoon. He made light of the situation, but internally he resolved to check out Butters’ home life. The Stotch parents needed surveillance from time to time, and Kenny was glad to deliver stark warnings as Mysterion if Butters was mistreated in any way. Too often the boy had been exhausted to the bone from doing far too many chores in the dead of the night.

“Well if you two queermos are finally done butt fucking, maybe I’ll be able to get to class.” Cartman snapped irritably from where he stood as he observed this interaction. He hated feeling left out and those two had completely blanked his presence. It was unacceptable in his eyes.

“Oh sorry Eric.. I best be getting to my first lesson anyway. Wouldn’t want to be late for Mr Gardner.” Butters smiled, oblivious to the malice that Cartman simply exuded.

Kenny watched fondly as the petite blonde scurried off to his lesson, before turning his attention to Cartman. “You didn’t need to be such an asshole.”

“You didn’t need to be so homo and practically crawl up his ass.” Cartman retorted.

“Whatever.” Kenny shrugged, there sometimes was just no point arguing with the guy. “I’m gonna get off to class myself.”  
  


“Try not to suck any more dicks on the way to lesson.” Cartman shouted after him, to the complete unsurprise of everyone else in the corridor. They were use to far more vulgar things being spewed from the brunette’s mouth.

Kenny flipped him off before disappearing from view. 


	4. Chapter 4

Excitement provided Butters with a heady distraction as he sat in canteen on his lunch break, anxious to see if Kenny liked his anonymous gift, or even if he’d mention it. So far the dirty blonde had barely spoken, chewing pensively on the grey and bland substance the school board deigned to call _food._

Despite his innate optimism, Butters couldn’t help but wonder why it hadn’t been mentioned, even in passing. Kenny had to have visited his school locker by now, surely he should be displaying his token with pride? Butters was almost at the point of bringing it up _casually_ of course, if anyone had received any strange packages recently. Fortunately, he was reprieved from having to do so with the startling arrival of Cartman at the guys’ table.

“Hey douches, you’ll never guess what?” Cartman addressed mainly Stan and Kyle, giving Kenny an evil smirk and pretty much ignoring Butters as he took his seat.

Stan sighed, rolling his eyes before replying. “What is it Cartman?”

“Kenny got a faggy gift from a secret admirer in his locker early. He didn’t want to say anything ‘cause he’s embarrassed.” The obese boy announced gleefully, happy to be causing havoc in any way he could.

The blonde merely shrugged when the other boys at the table glanced at him to see if it was true or not. Kenny had indeed found the gift in his locker, and while he wasn’t making a big deal of it on the outside, internally he was very touched. He wondered whether it was from his sister, Karen always used to leave him sweet little surprises when she was younger; cute notes in his meagre lunch sack and homemade cards. Probably not, as much as he didn’t like to admit it, his little sister had definitely changed from that innocent girl.

“And your point is?” Kyle raised an eyebrow, drawing the attention away from Kenny. “You’re probably just jealous no one would fancy your fat ass.”

The rest of the boys snickered at the comment as Cartman flushed a lovely puce colour. Well, all but Butters who had been conspicuously quiet, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he watched the exchange.

“Hey! I’m not fucking fat you Jew.” Cartman retorted oh so predictably, causing Kenny to try hide a snort. He’d heard those lines over and over again, was a little bit of originality too much to ask? He regretted making the noise when Cartman turned his focus back on him.

“Anyway it’s hilarious ‘cause someone fancies Kenny!” The boy chortled to himself. “Someone actually likes poor, white trailer trash.”

“Well that’s not very nice Eric! Kenny isn’t poor, white trailer trash. He’s a lot of things. He’s kind, caring, funny, smart and more.” Butters spoke up, startling himself with the outburst. He hated how cruel Eric could be sometimes, he’d always been taught if he couldn’t say anything nice, to not say anything at all.

“Why thanks Buttercup.” Kenny tried a suave wink, but didn’t quite pull it off when he felt himself gently blushing. He longed for the days when he still wore his orange parka and could hide under its hood, sadly he’d outgrown that coat years ago.

It was Butters’ turn to blush. “Well gee, it’s no problem Kenny. I’m just telling it how it is that’s all, you’re a swell guy for sure.”

“Ugh, you would think that Butters. You have such a boner for him.” Cartman waved his hand dismissively as the more innocent blonde tried to feebly protest to no available. “Anyway, I’m thinking it’s an ugly chick, maybe Betty-Sue. Who do you think it is?”

“How are we meant to know?! We’ve not even seen the gift. You could be lying for all we know.” Kyle pointed out with growing frustration, he was so _done_ with Cartman’s antics.

“Maybe Cartman is the one that got Kenny the secret admirer gift.” Stan quipped, much to the amusement of his super best friend who laughed carelessly.

“Yeah, it’s probably why he’s so obsessed with telling us about it. Wants the credit for his work.” Kyle grinned with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Hey! I did not get Kenny a fucking gift. I’m not a fag like you lot. Show them Kenny! It’s definitely from a chick.” Cartman shouted, upset now the tables had turned and he was the butt of the joke.

“Whatever.” Kenny had largely remained silent during this exchange, content to let them get on with their frivolous arguing. Still, he shrugged and retrieved the aforementioned present from his decaying school bag.

The candle stood there in all it’s glory on the cafeteria table. It was clear that it was homemade, the glitter décor not quite perfectly symmetrical like a store bought one would be, but it was also obvious that a lot of time and effort had been put into it. Kenny was strangely warm at that idea, flattered beyond belief that someone went to so much trouble for him.

“Cartman you’re an idiot!” Kyle brought the table back to him as he exclaimed while surveying the label that was attached to the jar the candle came in. “This isn’t a present from a secret admirer. It says Dear Kenny, from your Secret Santa.”

“What the fuck is a secret Santa?” Cartman asked, annoyed that he’d been wrong, and even more irked that he had to ask Kyle something.

“Usually they’re done at work places so that you don’t have to buy everyone a gift. But they can also just be random, spreading cheer and giving hope.” Butters spoke knowledgeably as everyone turned to face him with mouths agape. The small blonde was not the person you usually went to if you wanted answers.

Realising everyone’s attention was on him, Butters blushed and added quickly to cover up the scent. “Erm I overheard a teacher on about it the other day. I think they’re doing a class secret Santa.”

“Great. That means it could be anyone then.” Cartman pouted, unhappy that the culprit wasn’t easily identifiable so that he could mock Kenny.

“I think that’s the point though dude.. it’s like uh giving and shit.” Stan suggested, eyeing the gift once more before turning his attention back to his mediocre food.

Kenny ignored the others as he retrieved the candle and put it in his bag. Despite it not being from a secret admirer, Kenny felt warmth spread through him that someone had thought of him, even if it had been just for a second.

“I think your gift is cool Kenny.” Butters smiled nervously as he quietly addressed his friend.

“I do too buttercup. I do too.” Kenny agreed, receiving a blinding grin in return. He had an uncanny feeling that this moment would be one that would be worth remembering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back! It’s the school holidays so I can write more now. 
> 
> This is pretty fluffy in places, and hopefully we’ll be having some build up in the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Despite the lukewarm start to his new role as South Park’s Secret Santa, Butters still felt it his moral duty to spread joy and cheer to the residents. Plus, the way Kenny smiled at him when he agreed that the gift was _cool_ made butterflies flutter dramatically in his stomach. So, Butters worked harder than ever before, crafting home made gifts for the students at school.

Mostly it had gone well. Butters had watched with delight at the way the school’s resident bad boy Craig Tucker tried to hide the way his eyes lit up when he found the snug knitted hat for his guinea pig Stripe. Wendy had beamed when she had received the flowers that Butters had picked and pressed into a framed piece of artwork and had proudly shown the rest of the members of the student council.

Unfortunately there had been a little hiccup with the gift for Tweek that Butters had heard rather than witnessed later that day. The frazzled blonde had spotted the crocheted drink warmer that Butters had made in a dark green wool, and had automatically assumed that it was a threat. The shouts of _gah it’s the underpants gnomes_ could be heard all the way down the corridor, alongside Craig’s nasal voice desperately reassuring his boyfriend that it was just an anonymous gift for the festive season, not a declaration of war on the part of the garden decorations.

All in all though, the students of South Park were excited and happy to be receiving these anonymous gifts; though Cartman had taken to whining about how unfair it was that he’d yet to get one, to which Kyle would automatically reply it was because no one liked him. Butters felt a little bad, and resolved to anonymously gift him a cupcake soon.

********************************

In the week that had passed since he’d started his crusade, pretty much everyone had received a gift, or at least knew someone that had and so speculations were high on who this mysterious benefactor was. Kenny, on the other hand, felt conflicted as he smoked his cigarette outside the boiler room away from all the chatter about South Park’s Secret Santa.

He wanted to be joyful over this anonymous do-gooder, of course he did. But a part of him, a small petty part, didn’t like the fact that it wasn’t just him to receive a secret Santa gift, he wanted to special for once in his life. He had tried to shake off that childish resentment though and focus on what really irked him about the situation; there were secrets going on in South Park that Mysterion did not know about.

The superhero prided himself on looking after this town, watching over it at nightfall like a vigilant mother, and to be caught unawares about a secret organised present delivery service was just unacceptable. From the presents he’d been able to view, it was obvious that they were all from the same person, no matter how much the person tried to disguise their handwriting. It didn’t sit right with Kenny that he didn’t know who the person was and/or their motivation. It could be an elaborate scheme for malevolence for all he knew! Unlikely. But Kenny would feel better if he at least identified who was responsible, maybe he’d even help them. Taking a long drag on his diminishing cigarette, he resolved that tonight he would hold a stake out at the school and unmask this Secret Santa.

*********************************

Butters hummed a happy tune to himself as he put the finishing touches on the Star of David ornament he’d made for Kyle out of ribbon and wicker sticks. It was getting late, but he didn’t mind as he was happy to include Kyle in the festivities for once. He’d noticed that the redhead would become more snappish this time of year, feeling left out of all the Christmas centric parties and school activities.

“Butters! What are you doing in here?” Stephen Stotch burst into the room startling the small blonde half to death and making him knock over his beads he’d made Bebe a bracelet from earlier that evening.

“Erm nothing dad. Just an arts and craft project for school.” Butters stuttered nervously as he fumbled to pick up the scattered beads and place them back in their jar. He could tell that his dad was not impressed by his answer, and he cringed at what might be said or done next.

“Oh really? I didn’t realise doing art required loud levels of noise, keeping your mother and I from watching our tv shows.”

“I… I wasn’t making loud levels of noise.” Butters tried to protest, his lip wobbling. He hadn’t realised that his humming had gotten so loud but he wanted to apologise immediately, he hadn’t meant to disturb anyone. “I was humming dad, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t lie to me Butters. That racket was more than just humming.” His dad barked, moving closer to inspect the craft materials on his desk. Butters was thankful he’d finished with his mom’s candle maker. If he’d been caught using it, there would have been hell to pay.

“Sorry sir.” Butters hung his head low, he knew there was little point to arguing, even if he was telling the truth. It was just better to apologise and accept the punishment before his dad got even angrier.

“Good. Now can you tell me why an honest god-fearing Catholic like yourself has _that_ in their bedroom.” His father was pointing to the Star of David that lay visible on the wooden surface. The skin on his dad’s face now held a burnt hue as he worked himself up into a pious rage.

“It’s not.. it’s not for me dad.” Butters hoped that his father didn’t break it, he was proud of the piece he’d made. “I made it for Kyle so he wasn’t left out at Christmas.”

There was a tense silence as his dad appeared to be contemplating his words. Then, he sighed heavily. “Now Butters, Jews don’t celebrate Christmas. So they don’t need presents like Christian boys and girls.” Snap. Butters tried to contain the sob in his throat as his father’s fingers destroyed.

The blonde shook as he contained the tears within his eyes, refusing to let them roll down his cheeks with his father still in the room. Teeth gnawed the flesh of his lip as his dad had the audacity to now smile at him genially. “That’s much better. I will not have Judaic symbols in this household. Do you understand Butters? I’m doing this for your soul. I don’t want you going to hell.”

“Yes sir.” Butters managed to mumble out, afraid to speak more as his dad heading towards his bedroom door. He want to breathe a sigh of relief as the man opened it, but before he could prematurely celebrate, his dad turned round.

“Now Butters, since you seem to have so much free time to be making silly arts and crafts. I’m going to have to increase your daily chore tasks. Make sure you keep out of trouble.”

“Yes sir.” Once more Butters held his head low, allowing the hot tears of frustration to drop once the door was finally closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not finished yet :D


	6. Chapter 6

Mysterion was pissed. He’d gone to all this effort in surveillance, to discover the secret Santa. And nothing. Nada. The guy had been a no show. The gossip around school indicated that no one had received a mysterious gift from the bloke either. It was gutting, especially after all the work he’d put in.

Kenny had waited after school, lurking in one of the dank bathroom stalls until he was sure that the janitor and straggling teachers had left for the evening. To be honest this was South Park High, and they’d left pretty sharpish here. No one really hung out at school if they could help it. Then, wearing his Mysterion costume, in case the school had actually installed CCTV on their paltry budget, he snuck out of the boys’ bathroom to install his own cameras on the corridor containing the lockers. Thus, no matter what time of day and night, Kenny would be able to see who the enigmatic giver was.

It wasn’t exactly pleasant being cooped up in a disused closet, watching the surveillance feed on his second hand phone. He wasn’t able to sleep, lest he missed something, and so he was bone tired and bored by the time afternoon rolled around and the school day was over with no anonymous presents to show for it.

Kenny’s stomach grumbling, he’d only had managed to scramble up a few snacks to quench the hunger of his stake out, almost drowned out the audio he was trying to intently listen to. The secret Santa might have been a no show, but Kenny would always be interested in what Butters had to say.

The normally cheerful blonde was sullen and glum as he walked despondently towards Stan. Kenny could see the smaller boy wave half-heartedly in greeting and the smile gracing his lips was obviously forced, even over his phone screen.

“Hey Stan, where’s Kenny today?” Butters asked the dark haired boy, saddened further by the fact he’d not seen his best friend all day.

“Um I’m not sure Butters. You know how Kenny is. He’s always missing school, if he stayed up late doing god knows what.” Kenny watched as Stan shrugged, unconcerned by his absence. His friend was right, Kenny was often absent and the school did not care in any regard, the social service department in South Park was sorely lacking, and his parents were usually too off their face to give a flying fuck what he did with his time.

“Oh okay Stan. I just missed him today that’s all.” Butters held his head low and Kenny ached to comfort him. The boy was clearly upset about something and his absence had probably exacerbated matters.

“Don’t worry Butters. He’ll probably be here tomorrow dude.” Stan tried a reassuring smile at the dejected boy, sending a warming feeling through Kenny at his friend’s kindness. The guys might often be assholes, but they were his.

“I hope so.” Butters gave a watery smile and headed towards his locker.

Kenny couldn’t stand to see the boy looking so downcast a moment longer, and so stripping himself of his Mysterion getup and redressing into his civilian clothes, he took off like a rocket to find him.

Butters was still filling his school bag with the assignments stashed in his locker, when he felt a presence looming behind him. He jumped out of his skin when the figure addressed him.

“Hey Buttercup! Heard you were looking for me?” Kenny grinned as he snuck up from behind, chuckling at how startled the smaller blonde was by his unannounced arrival.

“Geez Ken! You proper scared me.” Butters managed to say when his heart rate had decreased to a semi-normal level. He surveyed the handsome boy in front of him, noticing that behind his devil-may-care attitude, he looked absolutely shattered. “Why weren’t you at school today?”

“Sorry sweetheart, did you miss me?” Kenny apologised, loving the way Butters blushed. “I had some things to take care of.”

“Well as long as you’re alright Kenny? And of course I missed you, silly. It’s awfully quiet around here without you.” Butters admitted all too honestly, happier than he was before the arrival of his friend.

“Yeah I’m just tired.” Kenny yawned as if to prove his point. In all truthfulness, he was dead on his feet and would probably crash as soon as he got home. “Where are you off to anyway?”

Kenny had noticed that Butters was not heading in the direction of the school exit. Instead he was walking towards the technology block and the art classrooms. Incomprehensibly, Butters flushed a brighter red as he stammered out an explanation.

“Oh… well you see um.. the thing is I’m doing some Arts and Crafts projects at the moment, and my dad, well, he got awfully cross at me for it, so I asked Miss Shaw if I could do it after school in art, and she kindly said yeah.”

“Oh.” Kenny looked at Butters for a second, the boy was wringing his hands nervously and refusing to meet his eyes. He wondered why he would be so anxious about that? Maybe his asshole dad had threatened him again? Kenny had to contain the growl in his throat that tried to escape. He would definitely be paying to Stephen Stotch. After he’d had some sleep of course. “Do you want me to join?”

This question seemed to inexplicably panic Butters and the blonde shook his head determinedly. “No.. no. You clearly need some sleep. Don’t worry about little ol’ me Kenny. I’ll be fine.”

“Hmmm..” Kenny wasn’t buying it, but he was absolutely exhausted, so he decided to drop it for now. He did make a mental note however to check in on his friend more often. Something strange was going on.

“Well… I.. uh.. best be going then. See ya Kenny.” Butters awkwardly said goodbye, scuttling into the art classroom and away from his friend’s penetrating gaze.


	7. Chapter 7

Instead of going home and getting much needed sleep, the driving concern that he had for Leo pushed him to go check out the Stotch’s house. _It’s not like a lack of sleep could kill someone like him_ Kenny smirked to himself as he, once again, was changing back into his Mysterion costume in the alleyway near his friend’s residence.

It was the perfect time to pay them a visit; Me Stotch would be at the office doing god knows what in his dead end job, and if he remembered rightly, Mrs Stotch usually had a book club meeting about this time, where she hung with the other housewives and had an excuse to drink wine. He could snoop through the house, see if there was anything untoward, and place a surveillance camera or two. That way if Butters needed help, he could be right there in the future. He promised he wasn’t going to use it to spy on Leo, at least that’s what he told himself.

The house was immaculate as always, not a speck of dust or item out of place. He had cautiously listened out for signs of presence when he had surreptitiously snuck through Butters’ bedroom window, ever-grateful to the tree that serendipitously was placed under it. Not that Kenny couldn’t scale a wall if he had to, his time as Mysterion had really improved his grip strength, even if it had given him calluses.

He padded softly on the hallway carpet, surveying the empty stairs and determining that no one was home. The house was like a show room, a far cry from his residence, even the pantry was organised in alphabetical order. It was going to make stowing spyware more challenging, he could bet with how OCD the Stotch parents were, that they would for sure notice the new addition. Kenny stood stumped in the kitchen, aware that the window of availability was ticking slowly away, as the longer he dithered, the more chance he had of Mrs Stotch returning, or even Butters. Then it hit him. Where is it that no one looks? Not even someone as fastidious as the Stotches? The top of the fridge.

The blonde knew he was right when he clambered up on a stool to survey the top of tall kitchen appliance. There was a minuscule amount of dust, a stark distinction from the rest of the place. It suggested that this place wasn’t cleaned as thoroughly as the rest of the house, and no wonder. It was cumbersome and difficult to reach. And generally speaking, out of sight. It was perfect.

He knew the living room was hopeless for finding a place to hide, it was barren, minimilast to the extreme. It represented the house well to be honest, the place did not give out warm and cosy vibes. It was all clean, cut and sterile. Honestly, Kenny had to wonder how someone as vibrant and full of life as Butters managed to survive here. He was like a stubborn flower, determined to grow and bloom, even in the harshest arctic desert.

Not wanting the temptation, Kenny placed the camera inside Butters’ room so that it didn’t face the bed. Although he _really really wanted_ to watch Leo and see what the seemingly innocent boy got up to, he knew that that would be an invasion of privacy, and creepy as fuck. He was about protection, not being a perve. The shelves above his desk held a small amount of clutter, making it feel a million times more welcoming than the other rooms in the house, and he was able to slot it there to sit inconspicuously and facing out into the room.

Looking at the Hello Kitty watch that his sister had gifted him a long time ago, Kenny nearly swore. It was almost four and he had to get a move on. But something on the desk made him stop in his tracks. There was a familiar piece of paper on the table, alongside very familiar ribbon and tags. The same paper that had wrapped his very own candle, the same tags that had adorned the countless gifts that had been received this week. And in that moment, the blonde realised he had been very, very stupid.

Who else would selflessly give to the students of South Park High? Who else would take no credit and sign off as a Secret Santa? He could almost kick himself for how blind he had been. Butters was the secret Santa! Kenny felt a curious warmth burst through him as he grinned at how genuinely good Leo was. Looking around the bleak room, he came to the conclusion that someone should be doing something nice for the incredible blonde in return. Maybe he could be that someone. Kenny resolved that he would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn’t the happiest with this chapter, but I know I’ve been bad at updating so here it is! I’ll hopefully get back into the swing of things.


	8. Chapter 8

Kenny’s prediction that he would crash as soon as he hit his bed came true, and the blonde passed out from exhaustion still dressed, before his head had even hit the pillow. It was much needed sleep, though it was sadly interrupted a while later by a sound incoming from the receiving monitor of the surveillance cameras. Kenny, despite being perpetually fatigued, couldn’t help but smile as he heard happy humming coming through the device. Butters was home.

_Lalalala la li la,_ Butters emitted a nonsensical tune as he deposited the creations from his bag into his desk drawers. He didn’t want his father catching him wasting time making arts and crafts again, but he did need to put the finishing touches of his bows and labels on the gift. Plus, he wasn’t exactly confident that his dad wouldn’t root through his rucksack at any point. He’d done it before, when he’d been convinced that Butters had to be taking drugs as he was now a teenager.

The gifts he could now make in the art studio at school were infinitely better than what he could salvage in his bedroom, contributing to his cheerful mood. Why he could even do some pottery pieces, setting them in the kiln before decorating. Visions of extravagant sculptures danced in Butters’ mind and he really wanted to get creative, making pieces that made people happy would be his dream job. Not that he was allowed to do such arty nonsense! His dad had informed him that he would be getting a job in an office like him, a job with _stability_ and _respect,_ not a _liberal hippie_ burnout. The blonde sighed. He wished sometimes that he could be interested in data and numbers like his father. It would make things a heck of a lot easier for him.

“Butters! Do I hear humming again?” His dad called from below, he must have just arrived home and had heard his son making an irksome noise.

“Sorry sir! I’ll make sure I’m silent while doing my homework.” Butters called, hurrying to the top of the landing. His father hated being talked at without a face to match the voice.

“You better son! Don’t forget we’ve got extra chores for you tonight to keep you occupied and out of mischief.” His dad reminded him with the frown that usually occupied his face.

“Yes sir.” Butters simply said. He held in the sigh for when he got back to his bedroom. Knowing how his parents liked to dole out chores, he was going to be up late tonight, especially with the secret Santa project going on, and an abundance of homework to complete.

He had just sat down at his desk and pulled out his trigonometry work when he heard the sharp call of his mom.

“Butters! Come wash up for dinner.” The tone commanded, and the boy dragged himself down the stairs with a weary spring in his step. It was going to be a _long_ evening.

Kenny’s fists were clenched during that entire exchange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not finished yet, but since I was on a roll, I thought I’d post it.


End file.
